COLUMBIA, Mo 12/17/18 (PSA)
-- Columbia Mayor
Brian Treece
joined Saint Nick himself for a big announcement last week:
KOPN radio
is taking over the holiday parade that almost wasn't.

After 38 years, the Columbia Jaycees -- which shuttered in 2017 -- ended the downtown parade, usually held the
weekend following Thanksgiving
. Despite a long search for a successor organizer, as of last month, none was found.

"There were no organizations that were able to take on the parade,"
Rachel Scheffer
, the former parade organizer,
emailed the Columbia Missourian
. "As far as we know, there will
not be a holiday parade
this year."

COLUMBIA,
Mo 12/13/18 (Beat Byte)
--
Despite steadfast resistance from every Columbia City Council member except Mayor
Brian Treece
, a citizens' group has launched a petition for a state audit of city government.

"The State Auditor's Office has given us the green light to request a performance audit," group administrators explain on the
Performance Audit Support Facebook page
. "We will begin collecting 5,000 verifiable signatures that need to be submitted to them by November 1, 2019."

Such plans would
"potentially stray from the original mission of the CCLT
, to provide opportunity for individuals to build equity in a home," board member
Paul Prevo
explained at the group's
August 14 meeting
.

The public's impression is "that the CCLT would provide homeownership opportunities," particularly in central Columbia, board member
Susan Maze
added.